Portable system for data acquisition and transmission based on handheld PC technology

A portable system is developed to monitor physical activity by acquiring and storing data from body-mounted sensors; a handheld PC is used for managing data acquisition and storage, including radio-transmission to a remote host. An application related to the use of a gyro-accelerometric sensor for determining walking distance is discussed.     

Low-cost, redundant proximity sensor system for spatial sensing andcolour perception

The authors describe their approach to the design of redundant proximity sensor systems that are capable of extracting geometrical information about the surrounding environment and perceiving other relevant features of the reflecting objects, e.g. colour. Potential applications of the proposed sensorial systems are in the field of robotics and autonomous mobility     

"No allogeneic blood transfusion" protocol for the surgical correction of craniosynostoses. II. Clinical application

The authors describe the results obtained in 13 consecutive cases of craniosynostosis operated on according to a protocol devised at avoiding allogeneic blood transfusion. The protocol is based on pre- and postoperative treatment with erythropoietin, preoperative autologous blood donation, preoperative normovolemic hemodilution and intraoperative blood salvage. Nine subjects were affected by simple forms of craniosynostosis, whereas the remaining 4 presented with oxycephaly or craniofacial syndromes. Five of the 13 children were under 7 months and a further 3, under 10 months of age at the time of the surgical operation. Seven children weighed less than 10 kg. Allogeneic blood transfusion was avoided in 11 of the 13 children considered. Two failures - defined as the necessity to reinfuse the patient with an allogeneic blood transfusion - were recorded, 1 of them resulting from an unexpected hemorrhage during surgery. The results obtained indicate that this protocol designed to avoid allogeneic blood transfusion can be safely applied in the great majority of children with craniosynostosis, even when the surgical correction is carried out early in life.     

Homogeneous versus heterogeneous catalytic reactions to eliminate organics from waste water using H2O2

Homogeneous (Cu²⁺ ions) and heterogeneous (Cu²⁺-pillared clay) Fenton-like catalysts have been compared in the conversion of p-coumaric acid. The performances of the two classes of catalysts are similar for an analogous amount of copper, but there are some relevant differences in terms of (i) the presence of an induction time, (ii) the turnover frequency, (iii) the efficiency in the use of H₂O₂, (iv) the initial attack of p-coumaric acid (hydroxylation on the aromatic ring or oxidative attack on the double bond of the lateral chain), and (v) the effect of dissolved oxygen on the removal of total organic carbon (TOC). These differences were interpreted in terms of reaction network of generation of radical oxygen species and of organics conversion. The possible formation of a surface peroxo adduct coordinated to a copper binulcear site was also evidenced for the solid heterogeneous catalyst.     

FPGA-based architecture for real time segmentation and denoising of HD video

The identification of moving objects is a basic step in computer vision. The identification begins with the segmentation and is followed by a denoising phase. This paper proposes the FPGA hardware implementation of segmentation and denoising unit. The segmentation is conducted using the Gaussian mixture model (GMM), a probabilistic method for the segmentation of the background. The denoising is conducted implementing the morphological operators of erosion, dilation, opening and closing. The proposed circuit is optimized to perform real time processing of HD video sequences (1,920 × 1,080 @ 20 fps) when implemented on FPGA devices. The circuit uses an optimized fixed width representation of the data and implements high performance arithmetic circuits. The circuit is implemented on Xilinx and Altera FPGA. Implemented on xc5vlx50 Virtex5 FPGA, it can process 24 fps of an HD video using 1,179 Slice LUTs and 291 Slice Registers; the dynamic power dissipation is 0.46 mW/MHz. Implemented on EP2S15F484C3 StratixII, it provides a maximum working frequency of 44.03 MHz employing 5038 Logic Elements and 7,957 flip flop with a dynamic power dissipation of 4.03 mW/MHz.     

Sensitivity analysis of the rice model WARM in Europe: Exploring the effects of different locations,climates and methods of analysis on model sensitivity to crop parameters

Sensitivity analysis studies how the variation in model outputs can be due to different sources of variation. This issue is addressed, in this study, as an application of sensitivity analysis techniques to a crop model in the Mediterranean region. In particular, an application of Morris and Sobol' sensitivity analysis methods to the rice model WARM is presented. The output considered is aboveground biomass at maturity, simulated at five rice districts of different countries (France, Greece, Italy, Portugal, and Spain) for years characterized by low, intermediate, and high continentality. The total effect index of Sobol' (that accounts for the total contribution to the output variation due a given parameter) and two Morris indices (mean μ and standard deviation σ of the ratios output changes/parameter variations) were used as sensitivity metrics. Radiation use efficiency (RUE), optimum temperature (T_opt), and leaf area index at emergence (LAI_ini) ranked in most of the combinations site × year as first, second and third most relevant parameters. Exceptions were observed, depending on the sensitivity method (e.g. LAI_ini resulted not relevant by the Morris method), or site-continentality pattern (e.g. with intermediate continentality in Spain, LAI_ini and T_opt were second and third ranked; with low continentality in Portugal, RUE was outranked by T_opt). Low σ values associated with the most relevant parameters indicated limited parameter interactions. The importance of sensitivity analyses by exploring site × climate combinations is discussed as pre-requisite to evaluate either novel crop-modelling approaches or the application of known modelling solutions to conditions not explored previously. The need of developing tools for sensitivity analysis within the modelling environment is also emphasized.     

Simulation of retronasal aroma of white and red wine in a model mouth system. Investigating the influence of saliva on volatile compound concentrations

The influence of saliva on aroma release from white and red wines was studied in a model mouth system. Aroma compounds were analysed in the dynamic headspace of wines by solid phase micro extraction/gas chromatography with flame ionization detection. Volatile compounds were identified by solid phase micro extraction/gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, resulting in a total of 43 compounds in white wine and 41 in red wine. The results showed a greater influence of saliva on aroma release in white wine than red wine. In white wine treated with human saliva, esters and fusel alcohols, responsible for fruity and fusel oil odours, were reduced of 32–80%; by contrast, the concentration of 2-phenylethanol and furfural, responsible for rose and toasted almond notes, increased by 27% and by 155%, respectively. In red wine, treated with human saliva, only a few esters decrease, with a reduction of 22–51% due to protein-binding ability of polyphenols that are able to inhibit the activity of the saliva. C-13 norisoprenoids, vitispirane (eucalyptol) and TDN (kerosene), decreased both in white and red wine, showing a comparable variation while, for β-damascenone, the variation was insignificant.     

体育就是展现

如果我们要寻找体育建筑的基本元素，可能要承认广泛参与的理念是其最具启迪意义的。体育不是（或不再是）体能形式的神圣展示，而纯粹是能力与竞争精神的表达。不幸的是体育也成为被“造星体制”腐蚀的领域，作为一项大型的商业活动，体育原本纯洁的精神被掩盖和破坏。     

Prevalence of Escherichia coli O157 in cattle and swine in central Mexico

Escherichia coli O157:H7 is a foodborne pathogenic bacterium that can reside undetected in the gastrointestinal tract of cattle because colonization by this bacterium is asymptomatic. Recent research has indicated that swine can carry and transmit this pathogen as well. The development of more advanced and sensitive detection techniques has improved the limit of detection and increased sensitivity for this important pathogen. This study was undertaken to determine the prevalence of E. coli O157 in cattle and swine in Mexico with the more sensitive detection technique of immunomagnetic bead separation. Samples (n = 60 per farm) were taken from four cattle and four swine farms (n = 240 cattle samples, n = 240 swine samples) located throughout central Mexico in October 2001. The prevalence of E. coli O157 was found to be only 1.25% on cattle farms and 2.1% on swine farms. The prevalence in cattle in this study is lower than that reported in the United States and could be related to the lower reported prevalence of E. coli O157 in humans in Mexico. However, further research is needed to verify prevalence throughout other regions of Mexico, as well as prevalence during other seasons of the year.     

Effects of feed withdrawal and transport on cecal environment and Campylobacter concentrations in a swine surgical model

The objective of the present study was to evaluate how feed withdrawal and transportation influenced the cecal environment and cecal populations of Campylobacter in swine. Four miniature Yucatan gilts (8.8 kg), naturally infected with Campylobacter jejuni, were surgically implanted with cecal cannulas. The gilts were fasted for 48 h. Samples of cecal contents were collected for 7 days prior to and for 7 days after the fast, and mean values were determined for pH, volatile fatty acids (VFA), and CFU enumeration of C. jejuni. This was replicated three times. In another trial, gilts (full-fed) were transported in a livestock trailer for 4 h and cecal samples were collected before and after transport and analyzed for pH, VFA, and CFU. Following a 48-h fast, cecal pH increased (P < 0.05) by 1 unit; acetic and propionic acids decreased (P < 0.05) by 61% and 71%, respectively; and there was a twofold log10 increase (P < 0.05) in CFU/g cecal content of C. jejuni. Values of pH, VFA, and CFU of C. jejuni did not change in cecal samples from gilts following transportation. These data are important for food safety considerations because feed withdrawal, commonly associated with shipping and slaughter, can increase Campylobacter concentrations in the pig intestinal tract.